Dead End
by Seraphina Elias
Summary: It looks like Storybrooke has a new problem... Zombies! Warning: This is a Swan Queen fic. If you have a problem with that, then looks like you should try searching for something else. Don't waste my time by leaving a nasty review about how "disgusted" you are after reading two lesbians being intimate. It's your fault for reading it.
1. Chapter 1

The front door burst open and Emma bombarded into the mayor's home, "Turn on the news." She demanded as she locked the door and pulled out her phone.

Regina, who had just sat down to a glass of wine, glared at the town's savior, "What in the hell, Emma? It's Midnight!"

"Just turn on the news."

"No, not until you give me an explanation for barging in here this late at night. I could have been naked."

Emma rolled her eyes, "For the love of God, Regina. Henry's home and it's not like seeing you naked would be the worst thing in the world."

Regina smiled, "I'll take the compliment." Her smile quickly faded and she returned to the current problem, "Now explain yourself."

"Fuck, really?" Emma complained as she made her way to the living room and pushed the power button on the remote. A newscaster appeared, "Really? The news was the last thing you watched?"

"I like to keep up on current events," She explained.

"No wonder you drink before you go to bed."

A reporter from behind a desk on the TV screen announced, "For those of you just joining us, less than an hour ago our station received word that the dead are coming back to life. Where the majority of them seem to be wandering in a daze, some of turned feral and are exhibiting signs of cannibalism. The CDC has yet to confirm if this is a legitimate zombie outbreak, or just a other hoax."

"Oh my God," Regina said.

"Mom!" Came Henry's voice from upstairs.

"We do not tell him anything."

The sheriff looked a little annoyed, "For how long? I think it's going to be a little hard to hide hundreds of dead people making their way into Storybrooke."

"Just wait until-"

"I think there's zombies walking around New York City!"

Emma looked at the woman standing next to her, "Do you think now is a good time to tell him, or should we wait until Alfred tried to take a bite out of him?"

"The sarcasm isn't necessary, Miss Swan. And who is Alfred?"

"That little old man who used to sit in park. He died like a month ago."

Regina gasped and placed a hand on her chest, "Aw, he had a name?"

"Mom, did you-" Henry stopped short, "Oh hey, mom. When did you get here?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago. Did you see the news?"

"Yeah, one of the kids from school sent me a text about it." The television caught his eye, "Oh, sweet!"

"No, kid, not sweet," Emma corrected, "We need to make sure Storybrooke is safe."

Regina stopped to think, "Wait. Do you think we could actually encounter the same problem? I mean, we live in a small town that's almost completely isolated. How would this type of outbreak end up coming here?"

"Have you ever seen a zombie movie?"

"No."

"Well clearly, or else you'd know that small towns aren't exempt to zombies. They don't just sit down and discuss what cities and towns to invade."

"Again with the sarcasm."

"Well you make it easy."

Before either of them could say anything more, the lights flickered. A thunderstorm was due earlier that day, but since the early evening had come and gone without a single cloud in the sky, they'd assumed the weather report was wrong. The flash of light that came through the window sent Henry to his feet and down to the basement to start up the generator, while Emma called her parents and told them to meet her at Regina's house. Regina, who was still going over the situation on her head, made up the guest room for the Charmings.

"So where do you want to me to sleep?" Emma asked.

"Well, if you don't mind, I was thinking you could sleep in my room."

The blonde fought back a smile, "Your room? Okay. I'll go back to my place and get an air mattress."

As Emma pulled out her keys and began to walk by, Regina put her hand out and grabbed her friend's arm, "No, that's fine. You can sleep in my bed."

Emma felt her heart begin to race. Studying Regina's face for any signs that she was joking, she asked for clarification "Your bed?"

"Well, yes. If that's okay with you."

The lights suddenly stopped and for a brief moment, there was nothing but silence. Emma spun around to look out the window by the front door and make sure no one could sneak up on them. She could just imagine a zombie breaking in and ruining the whole night. As the lights came back on, Regina looked down to find that she'd grabbed Emma's hand. She quickly let go, hoping the other woman hadn't noticed, but it had been too obvious to ignore. For the first time in her life, she was thrilled to have Snow and David rescue her. The ringing doorbell called Emma away, while Regina did her best to shrug it off. She just instinctively grabbed her hand. No big deal. But why did it feel so natural for her to take her friend's hand? Robin's? Sure. Henry's? Of course! But she had felt too comfortable with Emma.

"You're never going to believe what's going on," Snow said as they entered the house.

Emma sighed, "Yep, zombies roaming New York."

David looked at her, confused, "So I take it you haven't seen Main Street?"

"Main Street? No."

Her parents look at each other before her father said, "Well, there's at least thirty dead people walking around out there."

"Are any of them trying to eat other people?"

"Not that we could see, but we snuck out the back to avoid them." They stood around and talked for a few more minutes before David suggested, "How about Henry and start barricading the back door?"

Emma stepped to the side, "Be my guest. I was about to find some newspapers and stuff to cover the windows a bit more. In the morning I can go out and get a better idea of what's going on out there."

"We should probably take turns looking out," Snow suggested.

"Definitely. Maybe switching out every few hours?"

David called from the kitchen, "I can just keep watch tonight."

"I can help for a little while," Henry offered.

"Thanks, but if this all blows over by the morning, you'll have to go to school. You should just head back to bed when we're done."

Regina interjected, "He's right. You should head back up to bed when you're done."

"Okay," The teenager sighed.

Regina kissed him on the head and gave him a smile. As he took a step back, she did the same and headed over to the foyer, where Emma was duct taping the curtains. Luckily Regina had just switched the white ones out for a charcoal color, which meant less light would be visible from the outside. Luckily the windows by the front door and the four in the living room were the only ones she had to worry about, since the rest of the house would be dark. The two women worked together on covering the windows until David told them he could finish up. With having to stay awake all night, it would give him something to do, besides sit around. Accepting his offer, the two of them disappeared to Regina's room, ready to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Regina heard the toilet flush and the bathroom sink turn on, but didn't look up from her book until the door opened. Emma stepped out in a white tank top and a pair of plaid pajama pants. Her heart was beating so hard, she was certain that her friend could hear. She watched the woman's blonde hair fall over her shoulder as she leaned forward to pull back the blankets and crawl into bed. A loud noise from downstairs startled the both of them, but Regina was the only one who yelped.

"It's probably nothing," Emma assured her, "But I'll go down and check."

She poked her head out of the door to see Henry attempting to make it to the top of the stairs to investigate. At the sight of his mother, he turned back around and retreated to his room, watching her move from the master bedroom to the railing that looked over the foyer. There was nothing there, so she slowly made her way to the lower level, poking her head around the entry to the living room, just to the left of the bottom step. Empty and quiet, except for the television. The channel was playing clips of the same report they'd been an hour ago.

"Sorry," David said from the kitchen.

Emma jumped a little at the sound of her father's voice. "Dad?"

"Sorry, I knocked some boxes over in the basement looking for some old newspapers and magazines."

She looked down at his empty hands, smiled, and told him, "Check the laundry room, she keeps a few stacks of newspapers on the shelf to the right of the dryer. If there's not enough there, then…" She stepped over to a closet in the foyer, "There's plenty in here."

David walked around to find a closet packed full of packaging supplies. Most of it was wrapping paper, but there was a large stack of newspaper that reached to the shelf above their heads. He patted her shoulder, "Thanks."

"Is everything okay?" Henry asked from the railing.

As the two looked up at him, Emma replied, "Yeah, kid."

He disappeared from the edge and Emma said goodnight to her dad. As she walked up the stairs she could see Henry leaving Regina's room and ducking into his, closing the door behind him. Rather than stalling him by asking what he was doing, she walked back to the bedroom and found a bat leaning against the night stand on her side of the bed. A smile spread across her face as she walked back over.

"What was it?" Asked Regina.

Emma crawled back into bed, telling her, "It was just my dad. He was looking for stuff to cover the windows and knocked over some of your boxes."

"Did anything break?"

"I don't know. He didn't say, so I think everything is still intact." She looked over to say goodnight and caught the look Regina had on her face for a brief second. It was eagerness mixed with confusion, but she also sensed some sexual tension and fear that had been lingering in the air for a while. It was time to find out what was happening. "Hey." She said.

Regina chuckled, "Hi."

Emma bit her lip and moved closer to the middle of the bed, "You doing okay?" She asked, tilting her head a little to the left.

The mayor looked at her curiously, with a smile, "I'm okay."

Reaching out and putting her right hand over Regina's left, the younger of the two women leaned in as closed her eyes and said, "Tell me when to stop."

Of all the things she'd faced in her life, the possibility of finally falling in love with Emma Swan was the most terrifying. She wanted to close her eyes, pull the woman on top of her, and get lost in the moment. Spend the whole night tangled in each other, then maybe see how long whatever they had would last. She wanted to, but her overpowering death grip on being safely single kicked her want away, like a soccer ball.

"Emma," Regina started as she reached up and caressed her face.

The savior placed her hand over Regina's and told her, "It's fine. Honestly. We can just go to bed."

Nodding, the mayor rolled onto her back and was about to turn off her light, when her body suddenly stopped working with her and she suddenly found herself locking lips with the woman she was sharing a bed with for the night. Why did she need this? Why did _they_ need this? Her mind was spinning and her heart was beating faster than she'd ever thought it could. She hadn't felt like this since… Well, since Daniel kissed her for the first time, but even then it wasn't this strong. He'd been her only true love, or at least she thought. Maybe he was just a warm up.

Emma pulled away from her, "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Oh for the love of God, Emma," Regina said as she reached her hand around the back of her friend's head and pulled her back into a sloppy wet kiss.

Just as they were thinking of ripping each other's clothes off, a banging at the door yanked Emma right out of bed and straight to the bottom of the stairs, bat in hand. Henry started towards his birth mother, but Regina stepped in front of him and back him into his bedroom. David checked the peephole in the door, before opening it just enough to talk. They could all hear a female voice, but none of them could pinpoint who it was. The fact that David hadn't opened the door right away to let anyone in meant that whoever was out there, wasn't local. Right now he was exposing this stranger to the possibility of being attacked by a bunch of people that may or may not be the dead, brought back to life.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we-"

" _It appears that the military has lost control of the situation here and the CDC is claiming they have no knowledge of how to stop this_."

Emma slowly stepped back to the entry to the living room and leaned back just far enough to see the screen. The news reporter that was standing in the middle of the street was tackled and blood suddenly blocked out the scene. A camera change revealed two horrified news anchors. The man cleared his throat, while he shuffled his papers and tried to apologize as his reporting partner covered her face to prevent the viewers from seeing her cry.

"Dad, let her in," Emma demanded.

With some hesitation, David finally opened the door and pulled in a blurred figure. Two hands reached up to pull back the hood to reveal a teenage girl. She stood in the room and looked around at them, while they returned the favor. She had red hair that shined so much it looked as if it was synthetic. The sound of the door closing pulled everyone's attention to David, as if the person who let this strange person in would have the answers they were expecting right away. All he did was shrug and look at the girl as she nervously put her hands in her pockets.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma sat down at the table, across from the stranger, her back towards the arch that lead from the kitchen, dining room, and family room to the rest of the house. David and Regina were standing on either side of Emma, a few feet away, while Henry sat on the stairs to observe them. The girl was looking towards the person who'd saved her from the outside, blank expression as if she had no ability to feel. Suddenly she blinked hard and looked down as her hands. Regina looked from the girl, to Emma, then followed the stranger's line of sight and realized that she'd been looking to the right of Emma's head. Looking over her right shoulder and leaning around the edge of the entryway to the living room, she could see the news footage and suddenly knew why the girl was acting so weird.

"What's your name?" Emma asked.

"Mona."

She smiled at the girl, "Okay, Mona, where are you from?"

"I don't really know."

Everyone straightened up. How could someone not know where they're from… Unless she had amnesia, which would then beg even more questions. She looked tired and afraid, so maybe she was just in shock from whatever happened on her way here. Emma looked at her hands, they looked clean and her fingernails looked like they'd been trimmed, so she hadn't been traveling long.

Regina asked her, "Do you remember the last place you were."

The girl looked at her, "Yeah. Why?"

"Well if you can tell us, maybe then we can try and retrace your steps."

"But why would we need to do that?"

Emma interrupted the conversation, "We just want to know who you are."

"I told you who I am. My name is Mona, don't you believe me?"

"Yes, we believe you, but we need to know a little more about you."

"Like what?"

Calmly, Regina reiterated, "Like where you're from. How you go here. Maybe you can remember your parent's names?"

"I don't know where I'm from, okay? My mom, or someone, left me on the doorstep of my uncle's hotel room. They don't really know, because I was just left there."

"So your uncle's are the one's who raised you. Where are they?"

"Well, sort of. It's complicated."

Emma looked at her with a bored expression, "My parents and I are in the same age group. Try me."

Mona continued to explain to them how she was raised by a woman named Ellen and her daughter, Jo, but her uncle's helped out and made it a priority to stop by every couple of weeks to check in on her. Sometimes they would stay a couple days, other times it was a couple of weeks. She recalled a period of her life when they were hardly ever gone and Jo made mention that there were a few years of their career where all they could do was research, since there was almost nothing but smaller jobs close to home. Emma's curiosity peeked and she began to ask about their work.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it." Mona told her.

Regina scoffed, "Do you even know?"

"Yes. I started working with them when I was 12."

"You were a child, what could you have possibly done?"

The girl glared at Regina, "I can shoot and speak five languages fluently."

Finally, David's ears perked up, "Shooting? What were they thinking? Giving someone your age a gun."

"They were teaching me how to keep bad things away. But really? Nothing about the five languages."

Emma looked over at Regina, "If she can shoot, that could be one more person to help us out around here."

"I guess not," Mona said to herself.

Before anything else could be said, Regina's cell phone rang and she stepped out to answer. The others sat and stared at each other until the mayor came back and told them, "My sister and Robin are headed over here with the kids."

"Is Killian-"

"Hook's with them. Rumple and Belle are making their way over, but no one-"

The knock at the door interrupted Regina mid sentence. David motioned for them to stay calm as he quietly walked over to the door. As he opened it, Rumple quickly slipped his foot in and cleared the way for Belle. Right on time. It seemed that any time they mentioned his name, he magically appeared, even though none of them had the dagger in hand or on their person. Within minutes Zelena, Hook, and Robin showed up with Roland and the baby.

As Killian entered the kitchen to say hello, Mona smiled and announced, "Oh, now I get it."

Together they decided to send Neal, Roland and his half sister through the portal with Snow and Mother Superior, if they could even find the other woman. None of them liked the idea of being separated, but what other choice did they have? If anything happened to them, at least the children would be safe and in good hands. They discussed sending Henry and Mona with them, but Henry wanted to help and Mona didn't even know about the Enchanted Forest and they couldn't risk it with her.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, a knock at the door woke everyone sooner than expected. Of course David was the one who answered the door after some words were exchanged with the person on the other side, he closed the door and walked into the family room, where the group had convened to discuss the current problem the town was facing and how they could work together to fix things. Before any of them could ask the prince what happened he began to explain himself.

"Snow and I made a phone call last night to someone we met several years ago. I don't know if any of you remember the woman who wandered into Storybrooke, thinking I was some guy she'd been looking for?"

"Oh yeah, what was her name?" Regina asked.

"Ellen," Said Snow, "She gave me her number to contact her in case I needed anything after I helped her find the man she had mistaken David for."

Emma looked at her parents, "How does she fit in?"

David continued, "I called her and asked if she could help us out. She just got here with a couple of buddies and they want to talk to us before they meet all of you. It's nothing personal."

"Okay, then you two go meet up with this mystery friend and we'll work on some stuff here."

Snow and David left the house and carefully made their way to Granny's, where their three friends were waiting. These people were in the middle of dealing with a crisis of their own and couldn't afford to spend too much time working with them, so they wanted to make the meeting quick. The Charmings could almost taste the anxiety in the air as they entered the small town diner.

"Hey Ellen!" Snow said with a smile as she gave her a hug.

"Hey Mary Margaret," The woman replied.

"Oh, it's Snow now."

"Snow?"

"Long story."

Ellen smiled as she looked over at David, "Look at you, you handsome devil. Still standing, no coma's lately?"

David winced, "No, not quite."

"Guys, these are friends of mine," Ellen began as she stepped to the side to reveal two men behind her. "They were the ones we spoke to over the phone the last time I was in town." She pointed to the softer looking of the two and announced, "This is Sam."

"Hi," Sam told them as she shook their hands.

"And this is Dean."

Dean leaned forward and copied his brother's gesture, "Hey." After they all got a good look at each other, he said, "Look, we'd love to stay and help, but really all we can do is explain how to survive. How many of you are there?"

"At least a dozen, but we don't know how many other survivors are in town," David told them.

Sam nodded, "Well, how many do you have that can fight."

"Our daughter, Emma, Henry, Robin, Killian, Regina, we have another girl who just showed up last night and-"

Ellen's back straightened as if she'd been alerted by something, "What's her name?"

David and Snow looked at each other, "Uh, Mona." His eyes shifted from his wife, to Ellen, then to Sam and Dean, who were now looking just as interested and shocked as the woman they'd come with.

"Mona?" Dean said as a request for clarification.

Sam had already moved from his seat next to the table his brother was sitting on and Ellen was just about out the door, "Yeah, she just showed up randomly last night. We've been trying to find her family-"

Dean shot up and followed his friend's out the door, "We are her family," He said as he pushed by them.

The trio was practically sprinting to the mayor's house, with the Charmings trailing right behind. Ellen knocked and stood anxiously as she waited for an answer. Emma opened the door and asked, "Yeah?"

The towns acquaintance pushed the door open, stepped into the house, and called, "Desdemona?" When there was no reply she continued, almost begging, "Desdemona, honey, where are you?"

Sam ran into the house and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a frightened Mona step out from the kitchen. Dean, not paying attention to his surroundings, bumped into his brother thanks to the tunnel vision the second his eyes landed on the girl they'd been searching for. Ellen already had the teenager in a warm embrace, her face buried in the girl's hair, right arm wrapped around her, left hand caressing the back or her head.

She gently took a fist full of hair as she muttered, "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Sorry."

Sam and Dean walked over, each kissing her on the head. The three of them had been trying to find her for weeks. She'd taken off suddenly one day with no indication as to where she was going. They suspected she was trying to find Sam and Dean, as they were out on a job, but when she wasn't returning any of their calls or texts, they knew something else was going on.

"Kid," Dean started, "I swear to God, if I go grey, you're gonna be the answering for it."

"I just needed to know," Mona told them.

At this point, all Emma wanted was answers. She stepped away from the door and asked, "Know what?" She looked at the three adults holding onto the girl and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

Ellen stepped forward, "I'm her mother."

"So you're Ellen," Miss Swan realised.

"Yeah, who are you?"

At this point Snow and David had entered the house, making sure to secure the door behind them. "I see you've met our daughter, Emma," Snow stated cheerfully as she made her way to her daughter's side.

Dean's mouth fell open a little, "You're their daugher?"

"Yes."

"You're Emma?" He asked, almost unbelieving.

"Yes, what was unclear about that?"

He shrugged," Nothing. I just thought you'd be. You know. Younger." When he realised how that sounded and the sideways look he was getting from her, he quickly tried to take back what he said, "No, I don't mean you're old. I just thought you were going to be a little girl, not an adult."

"Well today's just full of surprises then, isn't it?"

Regina finally piped up with, "So is anyone going to ask what this whole situation is all about? Why is Mona here and why did she run away in the first place?"

"I thought we were supposed to be asking about solving the whole zombie problem," Henry commented.

"We'll get to that," Regina looked to the teenage girl standing a few feet in front of her, "So, Mona, why are you here?"

The girl sighed, "I came looking for my real mom."

Her words stung Ellen and the pain was clearly written on her face. Determined not to hold her daughter back, she gave her a little squeeze of encouragement. They'd fought over this topic for so long, because Desdemona wanted to know why she was so different, but Ellen wasn't ready to let her go. She'd been this girl's mother since she was a few days old, she didn't know what to do or how to handle the situation. Ellen would have never had to face this problem with Jo.

"I was told by a friend to find Hades. Apparently he is the only one who can answer my questions."

"Hades?" Regina rolled her eyes.

"Please tell me we aren't going back," Henry half pleaded.

There was a long pause before Emma announced, "Everyone, pack your bags. We're going to hell."


	5. Chapter 5

Desdemona opened her eyes to find Ellen shaking her awake. She sat up and looked around at the rest of the group. None of them seemed to be bothered by the fact that they were surrounded by a red tinted fog. The only thing they looked worried about was her, but why? How long had she been out? The last thing she remembered was sitting in the living room of Regina's house, watching the news updates on the viral outbreak.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Ellen helped her to her feet, "Well, it appears that at some point during the day we changed towns?"

Emma stepped in to explain, "This is hell."

Dean chuckled, "Sorry sweetheart, but this isn't hell."

"I beg to differ," Said a male voice.

Dean spun around to see a man standing behind the group, "Who the hell are you?"

The man gave a sideways grin, "You mean you don't know?"

"That's kinda why I'm asking."

"I'm Hades."

Ellen looked at Desdemona, who was searching her face for answers. She gave a nod and the girl took a step forward. Both of the Winchester brothers eyed Hades as he turned slowly towards the girl. She stared the being down and took a step forward, almost daring him to harm her. Before any more words could be exchanged, her mother made a swift attempt to protect her daughter by standing in front of her. Hades simply smiled at her, wickedly, as he flicked his wrist and sent the woman flying. The teenager lost her cool and lunged at him in full a full force attempt to take him out. He managed to dodge her and watched as she struggled not to fall flat on her face.

"Hey!" Dean yelled as he and Sam stepped in to defend the two.

Hades looked at the two, bored, "Oh please, don't hurt me."

"I wouldn't-" David stepped back silently as the two men drew their knives, throwing nasty looks at the newest stranger.

"You fucked up," Des chuckled.

The blue haired man made a move at Dean, forcing the teenager watching from behind to make one of her own. She suddenly found herself trapped with tunnel vision as she threw up her hand and stared directly at him with an angry look on her face. His movement stopped and he was thrown several feet from everyone. The group turned and looked at her in disbelief. Standing up straight, she fought to slow her breathing while the winchesters helped Ellen up. It wasn't until after the tunnel vision subsided that she noticed how shocked they all were. Even Dean, Ellen, and Sam looked surprised.

"What?"

Ellen moved towards her and reached out to touch her arm, "Honey, what did-"

"How do you have magic?" Regina asked.

Desdemona looked from person to person, afraid of what was about to happen. She was just about to break into a sprint when Snow stated, "Not even Regina's magic works here, how come yours does?"

She looked terrified, "No. No, no, no."

A wrong step to move back took her down and she scrambled backwards, ready to get back up and run, but the Winchesters reached over on either side and lifted her up onto her feet. She'd known for a while that she had this ability, but she'd always thought that it was some sort of bad dream or maybe she'd just imagined it. With everything her family had been through, she didn't need them worrying about this too.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean demanded as he looked around at everyone.

"I think I can explain," Hades announced as he brushed himself off. "You see, little Desdemona here isn't who you think she is." The glances the teenager was now getting from the rest of the group satisfied him enough to keep going. "She's the product of true love. In fact, her parent's are the only couple I've seen share that kind of bond. Even Prince Charming over here doesn't have that with his wife."

"You know who my parents are." Desdemona was demanding he tell her, more than asking for clarification.

"Yes I do. You've already met your mother. It's your father that I have to introduce you to."

"What?"

With a flick of his wrist, a pillar of smoke appeared and when it dissipated, Daniel stood in between Hades and Desdemona. Regina's eyes widened and filled with tears at the sight of her late lover. She clasped her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound of her sudden sobbing, while he looked around at everyone. It took his mere seconds to spot her in the small group. Even less time passed before they were holding each other, embracing tightly enough to make up for lost time.

"Who the hell is this?" Asked Des.

"This is Daniel."

"Okay. Again. Who the hell is this?"

Hades tilted his head to the side, annoyed, "Your father."

"My father?"

"Her father?" Regina echoed. "That's not possible, Daniel never had a child. He would have told me." She looked at Daniel, "You would have told me, right?"

He nodded, "Regina is the only women I ever had relations with."

"Ulgh!" Desdemona gagged as her mom and the Winchesters winced.

"Dude," Sam started.

"It's called sex," Dean added. He cringed a bit before correcting, "Not relations."

Ellen, who'd been soaking up what little information had already been shared, tilted her head, narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on the pair of antecedent lovers, and said, "So if Regina is the only woman you've ever been with."

Emma looked around with wide eyes, "No way." She turned to look at Regina, "I thought you couldn't have any kids."

"I can't! I didn't!" Regina stood up and almost began begging, "Robin tell them. We tried! He and I tried to have a baby, but there is no way to reverse it."

At this point Desdemona was so confused by everything that she decided not to believe anything she was hearing, "First of all, you can't reverse infertility. If you're born with it, you're just shit out of luck." She shook her head, "But what does any of this even mean. You can't possibly mean me." She pointed at Daniel, "This guy looks like he ran away from a renaissance fair. No offense."

He looked at her, crooked, "What is a renaissance fair?"

Her jaw dropped ever so slightly before she looked around and asked to no one in particular, "Who the hell is this dude?"

Emme interrupted by reminding everyone, "Daniel has been dead longer than I've been alive. If he is Mona's father, then that would mean she had to have been born before I was. She looks like she's fourteen!"

"I'm 16."

Regina asked, "And I would have to be her mother, but that isn't possible because I've never been pregnant, let alone given birth to a baby."

Hades gave her a wicked grin as he placed his hand on her forehead. A bolt of light shot out in every direction, knocking them all back. He chuckled as another flash of light struck the ground right where the king of the underworld was standing. Smoke exploded from the ground and as it slowly dissipated, so did he, leaving all of them unconscious on the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

Des opened her eyes to find everyone looking down at her. She was on something soft now, instead of the hard cold ground. Looking around she noticed they were back at the house, but she wasn't sure how that was even possible. They way they spoke about the underworld and getting back, she expected them to be gone so much longer. She noticed everyone was staring at her kind of funny, not like they were waiting to see if she was okay. That may have been a concern in the back of their mind, but she could tell that there was something else.

"Really? Again?" She asked.

"Yep," Dean confirmed.

"Sorry, kid." Sam said.

She sat up slowly and looked around at all of them with the same amount of speed, "So, what's going on?"

That was when the teenager noticed how closely Ellen was sitting to her. She was smiling, but it was obvious that her smile was masking something. Her gentle lean forward to take her hand told the girl all she needed to know. They all had some sort of news and it was clearly something upsetting. To degree of which it would upset her was unclear, but that fact didn't change anything. Ellen's stare left Desdemona feeling nervous and her grip on her mother's hand tensed.

"Hey sweetie," Ellen started. She fought the urge to cry, which was something Regina had not be able to do as successfully. "Listen, we, uh. We need to tell you something."

"Okay," Des said nervously.

"You might not believe it, we're not sure we do, but just trust us. Okay? Trust me."

She looked from their hands to her mother's face and replied, "Okay."

Ellen took a deep breath, "Do you want me to tell you how it is, or do you want it with a little sugar."

"Sugar free, please," She answered quietly.

"Could you guys give us a minute?" She asked the room.

Ellen watched as they left, Snow and Zelena disappearing into the basement with the kids, then took another deep breath and looked at the girl. She opened her mouth to speak, but before any words would leave her mouth, there was a loud thud at the front door. A silent panic rose in everyone as Ellen motioned for Desdemona to stay on the couch and walked into the foyer. Not even a minute later the teenager moved her from her place and appeared in the front room of the house where everyone was standing around. Ellen, Dean, and Sam all had their guns out, but it looked as if no one else was armed. She wasn't exactly sure what the problem was, but the second the second thud came, she noticed the front door shook, and she took a step back with everyone else. No one bothered asking what that was, because they all knew and none of them wanted to hear it said. The door shook again, only this time with more violence and the sound emitted was a loud bang. Something was trying to get in, but there was no way they were going to let it.

Mona took a step back, pulling a knife out of her boot, and headed for the door the other two women in their group had gone through to get down to the lower level. As she stepped into the kitchen, there was a knocking sound on the back door. The teen turned to look at Henry, who'd followed her. He shrugged and the two walked to where the knocking had come from. Through the glass they could see Blue's panicked face as she pleaded for them to let her in. The pair quickly began to remove the furniture blocking the door, alerting the rest of the people in the next room over.

"Stop! What are you doing?" Emma said as she took the two steps into the family room. "You're going-" She saw Blue and demanded, "Someone watch the front." The blonde quickly ran to the window above the sink and ripped the newspaper off of it. She could see two zombies trying to claw their way in, attracting the attention of a few more. "Hurry up." She said.

David ran over and began helping move the larger pieces of furniture, as Des shot over to the window that Emma was in front of. "Hold my legs." She demanded as she climbed up and opened the window.

"No way!" She responded.

Regina approached, "There's no way you're going out there. Close the window."

The girl rolled her eyes and in one quick move she was leaning out with her knife, reaching out for one of the zombies. Emma and Regina both shouted, but as they darted to grab her, she fell through the opening. As if it hadn't phased her, Des shot up and threw her hand, knife out, into the head of the nearest dead person. The reanimated corpse fell to the ground as she went after his friend. Another zombie attempted to grab her, but failed as she spun and kicked it down. By this time Ellen was yelling at her through the window to find cover, while Dean checked the front to see if there was any way to get out, and Sam helped finishing clearing the barricade.

The younger of the two brothers was the first one outside and he sprinted to the fence. He couldn't open the gate and risk knocking Desdemona down, so he hopped the fence, pulling out his gun. Before he could shoot, the damsel he was attempting to rescue pulled it away from him and shouted, "Knife's only. Do you want to attract the rest."

They heard a gun go off out front and Sam said, "Looks like Dean missed the memo." He grabbed his gun back and shot what few walkers were in front of them, then ran to his brother's aid. "Damn it, Dean, no guns."

Once they'd taken out the small group that had been trying to get in, Dean looked at him and asked, "Why not?"

"They attract these things. Duh."

"Oh please, like you knew," Des said, standing at the corner on the house.

"I do now." He said.

Dean raised an eyebrow, "The question here, though, is how did you?"

"I was on the road a while. I had some time. Some mistakes were made."

The front door opened and Ellen shot out, running towards her daughter as she gave the two brothers a quick glance to see that they were still standing. All three of them were almost drenched in blood, but she didn't care as she motioned for the boys come join in on the hug she was giving to their youngest member. Both Sam and Dean walked over to indulge the woman. She'd clearly been worried and who were they to stand in the way of her relief. It was the second that Regina stepped out to check on everyone that they backed away from the group hug. Mostly out of concern for how it made them look to the mayor and Emma.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Des looked from her mom to Regina and replied, "Yeah. Just a little bloody."

Regina smiled, "There's a shower upstairs that you can use."

"Okay."

Dean raised his hand, "What about us?"

Emma opened the door and yelled to them, "I'll show you how to work the one in the basement."


	7. Chapter 7

Regina sat on her bed and waited for Desdemona to get out of the shower, her blood stained clothes thrown into a plastic laundry basket in the corner. The second the water shut off, the mayor ran to the door and asked, "Do you need anything?"

"No, I think I'm okay," Mona replied.

Several minutes later the teenager emerged from the other side of the door, a fresh pair of clothes on her body and towel on top of her head. Her new outfit was a baggy shirt with the word "Dope" written across the front in big, bold letters and a pair a light denim skinny jeans. Regina smiled as she took the girl's hand and said, "Come here." She led her back into the bathroom and instructed her to sit on the lid of the toilet. As she pulled various cases of makeup from the mirror and drawers below the counter the woman asked her, "Does your mom ever do your makeup for you?"

Little did they know, Ellen was standing just outside Regina's room, listening to their conversation. She smiled as Desdemona replied, "Sometimes. Only if we're bored at home." She thought Regina must have given her a weird look, because she could hear the discomfort in her daughter's voice as the girl explained, "My mom doesn't want me to wear makeup at home. She thinks I'm already pretty enough without it and doesn't want me to get hit on by any perverts that come to the bar."

"Bar?"

"Yeah, my mom runs a bar. Mostly for hunters, but sometimes we get random strangers in who don't know the rules."

"Hunters? Do you brothers hunt?"

Des smiled, "They're not my actual brothers. My mom just takes care of them when they show up. But yes, they hunt."

"What kind of animals do they hunt?" Regina asked as she began applying the products.

Desdemona chuckled, "They hunt things that would give you nightmares." There was an awkward pause before she continued, "Their dad and my parents used to hunt together. They track down things that aren't supposed to exist and get rid of them."

"Like?"

"Werewolves, vampires, demons."

Regina looked at the young girl like she was crazy, "If you're in that line of work, why were you so surprised by your magic?"

Ellen looked down in shame, even though no one was directing the question at her, or even knew she was there. She felt bad for Des. The teenager responded with, "Because it's not the kind of stuff we deal with in our line of work. Ghosts? Yeah. Death? Of course! Zombies? Well they're outside already. We use latin incantations to get rid of most of the evil stuff, but not really any magic. At least not the kind that comes from our hands. There's a difference between a religious incantation that sends a demon to hell and a spell that makes something appear out of thin air."

Regina chuckled, "It's not that kind of magic. You could do that with it, if you wanted, but magic isn't something we use on a whim." There was a long silence as the queen worked on the young lady's face. "Our line of work? So you hunt too." She finally said to break the silence.

"Sometimes."

Ellen stepped into the room and called, "Des? Regina?"

"In here mom," Des called out.

Regina's heart sank a little as she heard the teenager's response to the other woman., but she masked the pain as she asked, "Are Sam and Dean finished?"

"Yeah." Ellen answered. She looked at her daughter and said, "You look beautiful, baby."

"Thanks."

As Desdemona got up and walked out Regina looked at Ellen and told her in surprise, "She doesn't seem that upset about any of this."

"Zombies? She's had to deal with worse."

"No, I mean the other thing."

"Oh." Said Ellen. "I didn't tell her. We got interrupted and I don't want to pick the wrong time to say something and upset her."

Regina needed Desdemona to know the truth and she wasn't about to stand by and wait for Ellen to come up with more reasons as to why the girl should stay in the dark. "You need to tell her."

"I'll tell her when it's the right time."

"And there's something wrong with right now?"

Ellen looked the mayor straight in the eyes, "Look, she's _my_ daughter, I raised her, and I will tell her when I know she's ready."

"I gave birth to her. She deserves to know who I am."

"You abandoned her! She wants nothing to do with you!" The older woman said.

Regina lost her cool, "I didn't abandon her, she was taken from me. If you don't tell her, I will. Who do you think she's going to be more upset with? The mother whose memories were erased or the mom who is trying to hide the truth from her?"

Ellen began to get angry, but the call of Sam's voice stopped her rant before it could even begin. As much as she wanted to slam Regina's head into the corner of the sink and render her unconscious, she knew there were more important things going on. She clenched her fists, turned around, and walked out of the room. The fact that Regina had the nerve to attempt to force her hand like that was going to put her in a sour mood and keep her there until the issue was resolved. She didn't want to tell Des the truth, for fear that it would cause a rift and they would end up drifting apart. Desdemona meant everything to her and she didn't want to hurt her, but maybe Regina had a point. Hiding the truth may hurt her even more in the end. Besides, it's not like Reinga could ever take her place as Des' mom. Ellen had earned that right and she knew it. Anyone who said otherwise was greatly mistaken.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone gathered around the dining room table. There were several rolled up papers, some files, and a few documents sitting in the corner where David was standing. Next to him Snow leaned against the sturdy surface, looking around and smiling at the other members of their group as they filed in. Half way down the table, Sam and Dean took their places, while Desdemona, Ellen, and Regina stood across from them. Emma made sure to squeeze in beside the mayor, putting Henry directly to her right.

"Alright, so we need to find this blue lady," Dean started as he rubbed his hands together.

Regina rolled her eyes, "She's not a blue lady, she's a lady named Blue."

Dean cocked his head to the side and gave her a look of disapproval for interrupting him, "Fine, we need to find Blue, this lady that is missing. First thing we need is a plan."

Desdemona said, "Our plans never go the way they should, so why don't we just split up into three teams and check different sections of the town?"

"That seems like a good plan. Maybe meet back here every couple of hours? I'll take Snow and Henry. Dean you can take Ellen and Robin? " David suggested.

"Sure."

"Great, then Sam can go with Des and Zelena. Which leaves Emma, Regina, and Hook with each other."

Regina stuck her arm out in from of Desdemona and looked around the table, "Are you all out of your minds? There are things out there that are going to eat us. We need to be in bigger groups and I'd feel more comfortable if Des and Henry were with Emma and I."

Ellen chuckled, "I'm sorry, but _my_ daughter isn't going anywhere without me. She's mine, so _I'll_ take her in my group."

The mayor gave her a strange look, more of disgust that she would dare challenge her on this than any other feeling, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable letting her out of my sight either."

"Oh really. And why's that?"

"Because you are all guests in my house and I don't want anything happening to her on my watch."

Ellen gave the other woman a sarcastic smile and she stepped between her and Des, "Don't worry, she'll be on my watch, not yours."

Sam held his hand up, "Can I say something?"

"Please," David sighted as he leaned against the table.

Emma simultaneously answered, "Do you really think that's a good idea right now?"

"She's in a turf war, Sam. Maybe you should wait?" Suggested Desdemona.

He ignored the women, "How about we go in groups of four? Hook can come with Dean and I, while Ellen and Des go with you."

"Snow and I can take Henry and Zelena with us," David finalized.

"No, I don't like that idea, that separates me from my boys," Ellen said.

Dean grinned with embarrassment, as he gave his head a quick shake, "Ellen, no offense, because you know we love you… But we're grown men. I think we'll be okay."

Ellen was doing everything in her power to keep _her_ daughter away from Regina, but it seemed like everyone else was working against her. She was never one to back down, though, even when things got hard. "I don't care. We're a family. We need to stick together."

"Then we should go as a group. If you're more worried about numbers, then we shouldn't split up. This whole method of dividing everyone isn't getting us anywhere too quickly anyway."

"We'll be too slow as one large group," Sam pointed out.

"What about the kids?" Henry pointed out. "Who's staying here with them?"

They all looked around at one another before Snow chimed in, "I'll stay with the younger kids."

David didn't hesitate with his addition, "I'll stay too and make sure everything here is safe."

Emma nodded, "Okay then. Now that that's settled-"

"Do we even know how much daylight we have left? I mean, the afternoon is pretty much gone, isn't it?" Zelena spoke up.

David sighed, "I don't know if we can wait that long to go find her."

The older Winchester boy was getting irritated, "So then what the hell are we still doing here? Let's go find her."

"She's right," Snow pointed out, "It's going to be dark in a couple of hours, we should just stay here and wait until sunrise."

"Meanwhile, poor Blue has to wait out an undead army." The blonde savior reminded them.

The Winchester brothers looked at each other, then Des, who had been eyeing them from the start. All three of them grabbed their jackets and weapons as they walked to the front door. Ellen wasn't too far behind them. It took Regina and Emma a second to catch on, but they did the same as soon as they realized what was happening, instruction Henry to protect the younger children if anything were to happen to the adults. As much as he wanted to go with them, he knew things would be awkward with his mom and Ellen. He'd rather stay behind and babysit anyway.

Regina was the last one out of the house and made sure she heard Henry lock the door behind her before continuing with the group. The made their way down the street, hacking and slashing any previously dead body that came at them. There were dozens, if not hundreds crowding the streets, but they were slow and had it easy to get around. It wasn't until they got to the Charming's apartment that they started having a difficult time making progress. Of course Emma had left her keys back at the mansion, so the only way they could get in was if they had a ladder to get up to the balcony and go through the sliding glass door. What a perfect time to not have access to her parent's home. They all stood around and stared upwards in a half longing, half annoyed state of mind.

Des took a couple steps back and Emma asked, "What are you doing?"

"What I trained for."

"Trained for?" Regina asked as she moved back to avoid Desdemona's outward arms.

The teenager nodded, "Yep. Growing up with two big brothers in a family of hunters. I've been prepared for this all my life."

She broke into a sprint and headed towards the building. Regina looked over at them and asked, "What is she doing."

Dean pushed the two of them towards the front door of the apartment building and said, "Get ready to do."

Des took several quick steps before leaping up and grabbing onto the drainage pipe that was bolted to the side, running up between the fire escape and front entrance. The teenager shimmied her way up, without missing a beat. The second she knew she was clear to jump over to the fire escape, she swung over, barely catching the metal bars with her hands. As she lifted herself up she could feel a sharp pain in her abdomen, but she ignored it, knowing that the people waiting on the ground needed her to put a rush on things. After a long minute she was finally up on the fire escape and climbing through the window she's seen. The apartment inside was nice, but she didn't have time to stop and admire it, at least not right now. She took a few steps towards the door before she felt the same sharp pain from only a minute before. Still, she needed to push past the pain and get downstairs to let them in. Dean's voice popped into her head, yelling at her to toughen up and take it like a man the entire way down to the main entrance.

"It's about damn time," Dean said as he pushed everyone in.

Desdemona was hunched over with her hands on her knees, panting for air. The sudden inhale sent an almost unmanageable twinge through her body as she gripped at her right side. Ellen stopped mid stride and asked her, "Honey, are you okay?"

She pushed off the wall, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not, baby, you look pale," The mother said as she felt her forehead. "You're really sweating, sweetie."

Sam pointed at the hand cover one particular spot, "What happened?"

Ellen looked down to see her hand covered in blood and she lifted the girl's shirt up without hesitation, "How did you manage to do this?"

As she leaned back against the wall, Des almost fell over onto her side. The last the she heard was Dean reassuring everyone that he had her. There were a some echoing footsteps before she completely blacked out and for a short time, she felt completely fine. There was no pain, but there was no numbness either. It was a dulled sensation, almost like she was a in a sensory deprivation room, where she knew she could do everything she was supposed to, there was just something keeping her from doing it.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean burst into the apartment, laying a half conscience Desdemona down on the couch. Sam ran back down the stairs to check the lower level of the building, while Emma and Regina ran around getting anything to help patch the teenager up. Ellen lift her shirt again to see the wound. There was a gash running from her right hip, almost to her belly button. She grabbed her daughter's hand, put a towel in it, and instructed her to keep pressure on the laceration. Emma finally emerged from the bathroom with a first aid kit and some rubbing alcohol. They could hear the men clammering around in the other parts of the building, but they weren't nearly as concerned about how much noise was being made as to they were about keeping Des awake.

The teen nodded off and Ellen smacked the side of her face just enough to keep her from closing her eyes, "Hey, baby, I know you're tired but I need you to stay awake for me, okay?" Desdemona's grip was slowly deteriorating as her energy drained. She could barely keep the pressure on her abdomen. "Dean! Sam!" She called. The second they set foot through the doorway she instructed, "Sam, keep pressure on her wound. Dean, I might need you in a couple minutes."

As she pulled a needle and some thread for the kit, Desdemona looked at Sam and said, "I need a drink."

Sam looked over his shoulder at Dean, "She needs a-"

"I'll get her some water," Regina vaulunteered as she sprung into action.

Sam chuckled as Dean looked at her and clarified, "She doesn't mean water."

He pulled out a flask from the left pocket on the inside of his jacket, shook it, then reached over to hand it to the girl when Ellen grabbed it from him and stuffed it under the couch they were on, "Are you crazy? I don't want you giving her alcohol. She'll bleed out and she shouldn't be relying on that stuff at sixteen."

"Oh come on, you let her drink beer," Dean protested.

"I let her drink under my supervision, with cheap beer, when she's not bleeding out, and when the world isn't being taken over by zombies."

There was a loud thud and the room went still as they listened for anything to follow. Another thud. "Are you freakin' kiddin' me?" Dean groaned through gritted teeth. He tugged on the collar of Sam's jacket and said, "Let's go Sammy."

Emma didn't hesitate to step in and take Sam's place, while Regina did her best to keep Desdemona quiet and still. Ellen looked her daughter in the eye and told her, "Okay, baby girl, this is gonna hurt like hell, but I'll try to get it done and over with." She gently moved Emma's hands out of the way and poured some of the rubbing alcohol onto a washcloth that Regina had retrieved earlier and cleaned around the wound, so that she could see exactly where she was bleeding from. "How the hell did you manage to cut a cut this deep?" Ellen finally asked after examining the deep gouge running across her daughter's stomach.

Des winced as Ellen dapped the washcloth on the actual wound this time, "I don't really know. I think something cut me on the way up here. I didn't feel anything until after I started climbing onto the fire escape outside the window."

"Maybe next time you should wait until we come up with a plan?" The woman suggested more than requested.

As she watched her mom thread a needle, she replied, "We were running out of time. Besides, our plans never really work out the way they're supposed to. A wrench almost always get's thrown in." She let out a yelp as the needled pierced her skin. Unknowingly, she reach up to the back part of the couch and grabbed onto Regina's arm. "We usually end up winging it," She admitted as her mother pulled the thread through.

Regina carefully moved her arm back, until her hand was resting under Des'. Either the teen didn't noticed or she didn't care, but either Regina was satisfied with the results as the teenager held onto her hand. She knew Des didn't remember what had happened after they reached the underworld, Ellen had already explained that to her, but she felt as if the girl knew there was something hiding, lurking in the shadows. She saw it in her face the several times she caught her staring on the way here. There had been several times when the mayor could have spilled the secret to her, but she knew that if it didn't come from someone she knew loved her that it wouldn't matter at all. It would only anger her. She had a bad temper and things happened when she got mad.

"There we go, all done with that part," Ellen announced as she cut the thread. She reached over and grabbed some gauze from the kit she'd been using as she blew onto the stitches. "On a scale of pain?" She asked, looking up at her daughter.

"Somewhere between the Skinwalkers in New Mexico and the Ghoul in Montana," She answered.

"What does that mean?" Emma questioned.

"That means it wasn't nearly the worst thing she's ever experienced. About a two on a civilian scale," Ellen explained to her.

Regina squeezed Desdemona's hand, smiled at her, then walked away from the couch with Emma, after Ellen waved them over to the kitchen. The ex Queen of The Enchanted Forest wasn't too thrilled that something like this wasn't even at the top of a sixteen-year-olds list of her worst experiences. Usually being gutted after climbing a fire escape to unlock an apartment so that you didn't end up as an afternoon snack to a town full of zombies ranked higher than getting your period, but something told her that her monthly subscription to Satan's waterfall wasn't even on the list… Or the waiting list to be on the list. That thought not only angered her, but concern and guilt hit her harder than being pile driven into a titanium floor by a spaceship at warp speed. The emotions that hit her were so strong that she almost let out a sob. She stopped it before it left her throat and when Ellen finally spun around after entering the kitchen, she pretended like it didn't upset her as much as it had.

"We need to keep a close eye on her, she likes to bleed and she's known for getting right back up and pushing through."

"Huh." Emma said nonchalant.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," She started. "I'm just not surprised to hear that she takes after Regina."

Ellen wiped the blood off her hands under the running water of the sink, "Yeah and those boys downstairs don't help any. The last time she hurt herself this badly, I had to practically tie her down, because Dean and Sam wouldn't keep their mouths shut about their latest case."

Regina eyed the woman, without turning her head all the way to match her face, "How did she get hurt? Did a vampire bite her?"

Ellen ran her tongue along her teeth as she dried her hands on a fresh dish towel, "Actually no."

Regina's eyes dropped out of embarrassment.

"He snuck into the bar after we'd closed and tried to slice her throat. Luckily the boys managed to take him out before he could apply the right amount of pressure, so he just left her with a bad scratch."

The evil queen in Storybrooke's mayor shot straight up so quickly, that the Regina half almost threw the ball of magical fire that had formed in her hands, straight at the woman's face. "What?"

Emma grabbed her wrist, "Gina, calm down. It probably happened a while ago. She'd alive now. She's safe."

"Safe?" Regina smirked, "You call this safe?" Her voice was significantly above a normal speaking tone, but not quite at shouting level. She threw her finger in the direction of the couch, "She's in there half passed out from losing so much blood. Come to find out, almost dying isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to her?"

Again, Emma tried to calm Regina down, but she didn't think about her words before saying them. "To be fair, she was killed before she was even born."

That stung and Regina's eye filled with tears as she gritted her teeth, "That's not the same thing."

The blonde knew exactly what she just did and the realization that something so mean had come out of her mouth made her cringe inside, "I know. I know. I'm sorry."

"Do you know?" Reinga began shouting. "Do you know what it's like to live your entire life, hating people who hurt you, because they made you **look** like a monster, only to find out that you really **are** a monster?"

"Okay, Regina. It's okay," Emma told her, motioning down with her hands, to nonverbally suggest she lower her voice. "No one thinks you're a monster." She looked into the living room where Des was still laying back on the couch, then back at her and said in a hushed tone, "She doesn't even know."

"But she should."

Ellen felt bad for the woman, but also knew that they needed to keep Desdemona calm and comfortable for a little while. If they got her too worked up, it could lead to unpredictability and possibly causing more trouble with an already troubled teen, in an already troubling situation. There was a time and place for everything, but right now was not the time and this apartment was not the place.


	10. Chapter 10

Two chapters in one day? Yep! I really wanted to get this stuff out of the way, so that I could move on to what all the SQ fans have been waiting for. Also, I feel I should warn you about some of the language that has been and will be in this series.

Regina and Emma sat in the loft of the apartment while the queen had a quiet cry. Her friend did her best to comfort her, but there wasn't much that she could do. Doing their best to keep out of sight, Emma had shut off the light above them to keep it as dark as possible where they were. Ellen was busy cleaning up, so there was some nearby noise to cover up Regina's sniffling and the few sobs that managed to make their way out of her body. They'd all been so focused on making sure Des was as relaxed as she could be, that they actually forgot to check and make sure she was relaxing.

"What's wrong?" They heard the teenager ask.

The two women jumped, startled by the sound of her voice being so close. They looked around to find her sitting on the spiral staircase, at the turn a few steps down, her head just barely popping up over the top. Her positioning told them that she was trying to give the space and privacy they'd searched for, but also wanted to know what was happening. They had all agreed that keeping the secret would be best for now, so Regina wiped her eyes and decided that she would try to lie her way out of this one.

"I'm just worried."

"Oh." She girl said trying to play stupid, but sounding doubtful instead.

Emma flipped on the light after wiping away Regina's tears. The town mayor gave her Des a reassuring smile and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. What are you so worried about?" She looked between Regina and Emma for what felt like hours as they stammered to come up with something before she finally told them, "I already know."

The younger of the two women stopped where she was, with the same deer in the headlights look that she would get from time to time, "Know what?"

"Henry told me. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Before Regina could answer Ellen shouted from the living room, "Des?!"

The sound of her boots slamming against the floor as she spun and began running through the apartment sent Desdemona into a panic to calm her down. She stood up at best she could and announced, "I'm right here, mom, geez."

Ellen looked up, "Damn it, Des." As the teen descended the stairs, her mom walked over and stood next to the railing at the bottom, helping her back over to the couch after her feet hit the ground. "I told you to stay on the couch."

"She knows," Emma announced as she and Regina made their way to the top of the spiral and began the quick journey from the loft, to the kitchen.

The innate mother looked at the daughter she'd spent the last sixteen or so years raising. She didn't look angry, disappointed, or sad, the reactions she had been so worried about, "Wait. What do you know?"

Des looked her mom in the eye, "I know what happened in the underworld. I never forgot."

Ellen searched her face, "But you woke up at one point and couldn't remember anything."

"Yeah, just like when I'm half asleep and don't remember turning off my alarm clock," She replied, "I never actually forgot, you all just assumed that I did."

Regina shook her head, "That's not possible. Hades used his magic to wipe your memory of the underworld."

"He tried," The teenager turned around and lifted her hair to reveal a symbol of protection that appeared to have been drawn on her with a sharpie pen.

Emma tilted her head, "What's that?"

Desdemona turned back around, "It's a symbol to protect me from magic. Sam drew it on me before we left to find Hades."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Ellen questioned her daughter.

"I didn't think it upset Regina that much."

The mayor spoke up, "You not knowing isn't what was upsetting me."

"Then what was?"

Regina took a deep breath, "Daniel, your biological father, was the first and only man that I ever fell in with. I was so happy with him and loved him so much. The only thing that could have made me happier was having a child with him. When he was killed, I decided that I didn't want to have any children of my own, if I couldn't have them with him." She paused and took another breath, tears filling her eyes, "I didn't know that I was pregnant. I didn't know that drinking the potion would kill you."

The previous sentence caught the teen off guard, "Wait what?" She was horrified by her own thoughts, "I died?"

"Yeah."

"Henry left that part out."

"Henry?" Emma asked. "What does he have to do with any of this? Is that why he pulled you aside?"

The girl looked uncomfortable ratting him out with her response, "Yeah. He thought I'd forgotten what happened. He was just trying to jog my memory." Her look softened, "But he never said anything about me dying."

Regina interjected, "It's because he doesn't know." Looked down at the ground in shame she did her best to continue, "I didn't give him that detail. I'm sure he's suspicious, but I couldn't bring myself to admitting what I did."

Des looked her straight in the eye and said, "You're fucking dumb." They all looked back at her in surprise before she continued, "You actually think this was your fault? Really? It wasn't like you murdered me, because you didn't want me. You didn't even know I was in there, I probably didn't even have a heartbeat yet."

"But I knew that I could have been pregnant. It's why I met with Daniel that night. He thought I just wanted to check and make sure everything was arranged for us to leave the next night, but I was planning on telling him about the possibility of us being parents."

She was half way into breakdown mode when a loud thud echoed through the building and Dean shouted, "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Emma ran into the hallway to find them trying to find things to put in the way of the front doors that were beginning to crack. This was not good. If the the entrance gave way to the swarm of the undead behind it, they're already rough day would end up going from bad to worse. She called back to the other two ladies that they needed to help, but Ellen was adamant about someone staying up with Desdemona. Even though there was protest from their injured group member, Regina still stayed behind. It wasn't how any of them wanted the mother-daughter-mother bonding to go down, but they didn't have the luxury of arguing about it. Besides, Harvel's didn't share well when it came to their family. These people were still strangers, even though they were on the same side of the current battle for Earth. Until Ellen, Sam, and Dean knew they could be trusted, Desdemona would belong to _them_.


	11. Chapter 11

"You have got to be kidding me right now!" Desdemona shouted from the top of the stairs.

"Des, go back inside with Reigna," Ellen calmly requested.

Before she could protest the situation Regina pulled her back into the apartment, then closed and locked the front door. "Yeah, because a deadbolt will hold back a wave of the undead army that's trying to break in."

"It's better than nothing."

"Actually, it isn't."

On the other side of the door and down the stairs, Dean and Sam began moving the heaviest furniture they could find in the nearest apartment, while Emma and Ellen stood guard, hoping to themselves that the glass in the doors would hold just long enough for the men to make a barricade. With each new item that was added, the safer and more at ease they all felt, but they were all reminded of how big a mistake that was then they all heard a scream that sounded almost like someone had a mouth full of water. The unwelcome reminder of what could happen if they let down their guard irritated Emma to no end, but now was not the best time to plot how to kill anyone… Especially the mother of someone you hoped loved you back.

"I think that should be good," Ellen told them, once they could no longer see the outside.

"Well, it won't hold them off forever, we need an exit plan," Dean said.

Emma looked at all three of them, "How are we supposed to get out of here before those things get in, if Mona is up there, injured?"

"If we can get out of here quietly enough, then maybe we won't have to run and won't have to worry about Des injuring herself even more," Sam told her.

"I'm sorry, but am I the only one who still has to get used to Des being called Mona? I mean, we don't hear anyone call her that as much anymore," Dean chuckled.

The blonde looked at him sideways and asked, "Why not?"

"Well, she hates the name now. She says it makes her feel like she's five. Funny thing is that when she was five she wouldn't answer when we called her Mona, she only responded to Des."

Sam interrupted, "Dean, focus. How are we going to get out of here within the next hour?"

Ellen looked nervous, "Sammy, I don't know if we can get out of here that quickly. Des is still bleeding."

"I can carry her," Dean offered. "It's not ideal, but if having her mobile is gonna cause her to bust a seam, then carrying her would be the better option."

"I can go get my Bug," Emma suggested. "It can only fit four people, though. Two, if you want to be comfortable."

Ellen shook her head, "No, we need something that can fit at least four of us, if we're going to be picking up an extra person."

They threw a few more ideas around before deciding that they could try taking Des back to recover, while they went out to find Blue. Dean and Sam would take turns carrying her until they got back to the house, hoping that keeping her off of her feet would make sure that her stitches stayed intact. The biggest concern, other than the zombies, was having someone with that much of an open wound out in the middle of a viral outbreak. Some people could be bitten and not change, but those with weaker immune systems that couldn't stand up to the virus would begin to turn. Of course, this was no time for them to find out if they youngest of the six of them has an immune system that was up to the task of fighting something this big. The odds were beginning to stack against them the more that they discussed the issue, but they figured it would be better to attempt to make it back before dark, instead of waiting for the barricade to break and all of them to die.

They quickly walked back upstairs and Emma did her best to quietly make her way down the fire escape and make sure the ladder was down, while Dean lifted Des and began the challenging task of descending the narrow staircase of their back exit. Ellen was in front of him making sure he didn't fall forward, Regina was behind him keeping an eye on her only biological child, and Sam was in the back of the line to make sure there was nothing behind them. They had to walk down 4 flights, so Emma had to keep an eye out for anything nasty coming at them for nearly fifteen minutes, due to the fact that Des had to climb down the ladder herself, but she had to do it carefully.

The small group made it out okay and they snuck out the back gate, to the ally behind the apartment building. The sun had begun to go down a few minutes before hand and daylight was fading. Everyone began to get nervous as the thought of them being stuck out on the dark quickly seeped into their minds. They had a matter of minutes to get to mayor's house before it would be too dark for them to continue on foot. There was no telling what horrors would be waiting for them after the sun went down, but the sounds they'd hear previous to that night told them they wouldn't like it. Looking around the desolated town, the odds were stacked against them and their chances of getting back before the sun went down were slim to none.

As they rounded a corner to cut through a street of backyards, they heard a blood chilling scream. They stopped in their tracks and turned to listen for it again, hoping that whoever it was could still be helped. Going back for another survivor would only add onto the length of their journey, but they were willing to risk it. More people meant higher odds and they were desperate to make it through this epidemic. The second scream sent shivers down everyone's spine and it wasn't long before they came to the realization that they were in more trouble than they thought. None of them wanted to say it, but they all had a sinking feeling that they were about to die. What came around the corner only confirmed their fear.

"Put me down," Des demanded when she saw it's head poke out from the behind the house at the beginning of the road.

"Hell no."

"Fine." She said as she left go of Dean's neck and swung her legs under her.

They watched as the decaying head, with glowing red eyes, disappeared back into it's hiding place. Half a second later, a body that was just as nasty looking jumped out and the creature began sprinting at them. Des closed her eyes just long enough to sear the image of what she just saw into her brain, then turned to run with everyone. Their plan to cut through the other houses suddenly didn't seem like the best idea, since hopping fences would only slow them down. This _thing_ was jumping from one place to the next with ease, like it had been training in parkour for the last hundred years or something. They could hear it screaming, a gargled sound this time and Sam turned to see blood pouring from it's mouth. The Winchester's and Harvel's weren't ones to run from a monster, but none of them felt like dying at the hands of whatever that thing was.

Emma led the pack down a dirt road that cut through two rows of houses that were back to back. The short cut would lead them into the next block, which would cut their travel time by a few minutes. However, keeping in mind that one of the members of their party was injured, she ducked into the side yard of one of the houses, found an open window, and quickly instructed everyone to begin climbing in. Ellen was the first, then Des, followed by Regina, who ran to the front door and unlocked it, while Ellen made sure the house was clear. Sam and Dean turned and walked backwards as Emma led the way to the front porch. In a matter of seconds, the team managed to make it inside, but their problems weren't over.

"Does this thing have a basement?" Sam asked.

Emma responded, "I'm not sure."

"Why?" Asked Regina.

The door they'd just come through began to shake and Dean said, "Because that thing wants in."

Des, who'd been slowly making her way through the main floor, grabbed the handle of a nearby door, threw it open, and said, "I found the basement." Once in everyone had made their way into their new hiding place, the teenager found a window and suggested, "I think we should try slipping out the back, while that thing is busy breaking in."

The sound of wood beginning to break was the last thing anyone actually heard before making their exit. Almost as if it had been timed, Dean was the last one out and carefully closed the window, just as they heard the front door slam to the floor. They all made a silent escape into the same neighborhood they just tried escaping from, with the last bit of daylight. Another ten minutes and they were able to see the house. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once they got to the front steps and they saw Henry throw the door open. None of them had ever been so happy to be back inside the boarded up home


	12. Chapter 12

The door closed shut behind everyone and the group of rescuers looked at one another. Sam was the first to let out a chuckle, then Dean, followed by Emma, before anyone could even ask what happened, the members who'd joined back with the group were laughing amongst themselves. The situation was far from humorous, but none of them saw crying as an option. It wasn't until all the blood in Desdemona's face drained and she stumbled back, sliding to the floor, that the laughter subsided. At first they all thought she was joking, but when she pulled her hand away from her side they could all see a big spot on her shirt where her own blood had soaked through. The teenager did her best to try to get the laughs going again, but the entire room had already erupted into chaos as Ellen began shouting orders at the other people.

"Is she going to be okay?" Regina asked, kneeling down to help.

Ellen's hidden panic surfaced unexpectedly as she replied, "I don't know."

Regina balled her hands into fists, then threw them out as her fingers flung away from her palms, hoping for some sort of reaction. All that laid in her hand was air and they watched as her face fell into one of complete defeat. Her mind flashed back to when they first discovered that magic had been rendered useless. Henry had a cut above his eyebrow that just seemed to have appeared there. When Regina tried healing it, nothing happened. Even Emma couldn't heal their son. In the midst of all the chaos, Regina had forgotten that the one thing she always defaulted to in an emergency would no longer work and the realization nearly crushed her.

Sam knelt down and took Desdemona's hand and told her, "You'll be fine."

Des smiled weakly and replied, "I know." She paused as Ellen pulled the gauze away and blood poured out. "Hey Sammy," She started, "Just in case. If I don't, please don't let Dean get near Regina."

Dean looked offended, "Hey, what did I do."

She gave another weak smile as she looked directly at him, "I saw you staring at her boobs, Dean."

He looked over to see Regina's reaction, but the mayor was too worried to bother with anything else. Opening his mouth to say something as she walked away, he stopped when Emma approached her and pulled her into a hug. The blonde looked up and over in the direction of everyone, then whispered something into her friend's ear. Regina nodded and then kissed her, right there in plain view of everyone. He turned to see everyone else, but noticed that the only people reacting oddly were the pirate and Robin. Hook looked like he wanted to kill someone and Robin's eyes fell to the floor so quickly that he thought they were going to plummet right out of his skull. He caught on to what was happened and grinned to himself; the two women either had previously broken up with them or just hadn't had to chance to do so.

"I need some help over here!" Ellen shouted.

Dean looked over to see blood gushing from the wound and he jumped into action with the rest of the room. Sam jumped up and pulled his brother aside, suggesting they go back to the Impala and get what they would need to protect themselves better, as well as grab any first aid supplies they had thought to bring with them. He agreed, but they would need more backup and he knew just who they would ask.

"You want us to do what?" Killian asked.

Sam put his hands up and motioned downward to remind him to remain calm and quiet, "It'll take an hour, if we're quick."

"Have you two seen what's out there?"

"Yeah, we just got back from being out there."

Robin told them, "You two are crazy if you think we'd survive a supply run right now. You couldn't even get to Blue."

Dean looked at him, irritated, "That's probably because in the goddamn middle of town, where the most people were at the time of the break out. We're lucky we even got that far and we could have made it even farther, had Des managed to get us into the apartment building without hurting herself."

Killian and Robin looked at each other, concluding that the weapons they talked about would drastically increase their odds, then simultaneously agreed, "Fine."

Dean got the attention of David and whispered the plan to him, asking that he inform everyone else of where the plan AFTER they left. Buying as much time as possible would prevent any other from tailing them. They were already one man down, they didn't need anyone else trying to be a hero… Even though that's exactly what he and the other three men were doing. A quiet debate began between them, but the prince soon backed down after Dean tossed around a few lines that hit close to home about what he would do if Emma were the one slumpt down on the floor. As they took off out the back, as silently as they could, David waited until Ellen had prompted for the men's whereabouts once Des was stitched back up.

"Damn it. I'm gonna kill those boys," She said as she wiped off her hands.

"Here, let me take Des into the other room. She'll be more comfortable on the couch."

Zelena looked around and asked, "So they just left? Is no one else irritated by this?"

Emma, who was holding Regina's hand, voiced her opinion, "I think it's stupid, but I also think it's necessary right now. If Desdemona keeps bleeding like this, we're going to need as many supplies as possible. Our magic doesn't work, so we have to resort to doing everything the hard way."

Ellen wasn't happy and continued cursing under her breath as she washed up at the kitchen sink. Snow did her best to calm the woman down, but she could understand that the anger coming from her friend wasn't actual anger, it was worry and fear. It was clear that her tough exterior was beginning to weaken and Snow White suggested she make up a bed near her daughter and get some sleep. Once she'd fallen asleep no one bothered to wake her, not even after the Winchesters, Killian, and Robin got back.


	13. Chapter 13

Emma did her best the keep her pace with the rhythm of Regina's panting. For a brief moment, a moan almost escaped the mayor's mouth, but she muffled it by burying her face in her partner's shoulder. Another one and this time she had to use her hand to cover it up. The third time it happened they decided to switch positions so that Regina could put her face into the pillows any time she felt the need to make a sound. Knowing that she gave such good head made Emma smile and she moved under Regina and wrapped her arms under, then over the other woman's thighs.

The blonde moved her tongue around Regina's genitalia, forcing yet another moan, which was quickly muffled. "How in the hell did you and Robin do this without waking up the kids?"

The savior went back to what she was going and Regina answered, "We didn't," In a trembling voice, as she did her best not to call out her lover's name.

"So you shamelessly scarred Roland, his half sister, and our son for life?"

"No, Miss Swan, we never had sex while they were with us. Now keep going and please don't stop again," Regina told her, getting frustrated.

She was surprised. With all the time they spent with the kids and out saving the world, it only left a few opportunities for them to have their private time and do the deed. Regina's quick climax after only a few strokes of her fingers inside of her made so much more sense. The mayor collapsed on the bed and Emma moved up to hold her parenter. She shook and giggled as she came down from her orgasm, leaving her partner to smile in triumph. The savior had been waiting, for what felt like forever, to get into the mayor's pants. Her reasons weren't because she was some horny lesbian who had nothing better to do than pine after a woman she found attractive, but because she knew Regina wasn't happy with Robin and she wanted a chance to fix that. Eating her out in the middle of a zombie apocolypse wasn't what she had in mind, but she wasn't going to argue and there was no way she would take back the last fifteen minutes.

Emma leaned over the bed and began getting dressed as she told her, "I hate to eat and run, but I need to go do a perimeter check and I'm sure Mona needs to be checked on."

Regina threw her clothes back on and was out the bedroom door before Emma had even suited up. She made her way into the family room, where Des was resting on the couch. Her breathing was shallow, but she was alive. Ellen could be seen sleeping only a few feet away from the teenager and Henry was passed out in the corner. She found a flashlight sitting on the counter, took it, and walked over to where her offspring was. She clicked the light on and lifted up the girl's shirt to find she was beginning to bleed through the gauze.

"What's wrong?" Ellen asked, opening her eyes to find the bright light shining onto her daughter.

"I think her bandages need to be changed."

"What time is it?"

Regina looked down at the watch on her wrist, only to find it wasn't there. "Um, I think it's almost two. Why?"

"I just changed the gauze half an hour ago," Ellen replied as she got up to check the wound herself.

"It's okay, I think I've got this," Regina told her, putting up her hand.

"Fine by me, but you need someone to hold the flashlight." Ellen wasn't comfortable letting anyone else touch her daughter, but she wanted to keep the peace for her daughter's sake. When she saw the nervous expression on Regina's face she asked, "Do you need me to walk you through it?"

"No, I know what to do. I just don't want to hurt her."

Emma walked into the room and asked Ellen, "Do you know someone named Crowley?"

"Not personally, but he has a love hate relationship with the boys and my daughter. Why?"

"He's outside talking to Sam and Dean."

Ellen shot up and was about to head outside when the door opened the three men walked in. Sam, Dean, and she knew the third one had to be Crowley. "When did you boys get back?" She asked, ignoring the stranger.

"About three hours ago, maybe less. You were asleep, so we just went outside and did a little summoning."

Desdemona's eye slowly opened and she rubbed them clear of the crust that had formed in the corners. She caught sight of the new comer and said, "Who the hell invited you."

"Believe me princess," Crowley said impatiently, "This is the last place I've ever wanted to be."

Regina scoffed, "And why's that? This place isn't good enough for you?"

"No, love, it's just. Well, you people are of no use to me. You come from a different realm and that… Well, that means you're ruled under a different deity. I can't collect on fairytale characters."

"And this douche doesn't like losing business," Des added.

He smirked and got within inches of the teenager's face, "I suppose you're this town's Cinderella?"

"Actually the real Cinderella is Cinderella. She's back in the Enchanted Forest," Emma explained.

"So how about you bippitty boppitty back the fuck up?" Desdemona snarled a she moved up onto her elbows.

Regina, who'd removed the bandages covering the girl, put her arm up to keep Des from sitting up all the way and told her, "Stay down, we don't need you to bust another seem." She spun around, looked Crowley in the eye, got in his face and began walking him backwards telling him, "You make another move like that and I'll rip your heart out and crush it."

Sam put up his hand to speak, "Um, he doesn't have one."

Regina looked at him, "What?"

"That's right sweetheart. I'm a demon. You can crush my heart all you want, but I'll just come back and drag you to hell. I can work the legalities out with whoever comes to collect you people. It's Hades, right?"

Des rolled her eyes, "Don't you have some place else to be?"

He turned and looked at the Winchester brothers, "I don't know. Boys?"

Dean rubbed his hands together, in preparation for the information he was about to pass on. "Look, something happened and none of the people who had magic when we got here have it." He paused and waited for the demon's expression to change, showing he understood. "You're magic, however, does. We need to know why and if we can fix whatever is going on here."

"I can't tell you why, but I can tell you who's doing this."

"Save it, we already know it's Hades." Dean told him as he took a step towards the couch.

Crowley chuckled, then looked around and said, "You're serious?" When no one said anything he said, "You have no idea just how big this is, do you?"

Ellen grew concerned as she asked, "What is?"

"This." The hell spawn put his arms out. "This is all because of that little brat," He said as he pointed to Des.

"I didn't do anything," Des argued as she sat up. "This all started because some woman named Cora couldn't handle her own life. She fucked up, so now the rest of us have to suffer."

Regina's head shot in her biological child's direction, "What did you just say."

"Hades told me about some woman named Cora. She gave her daughter away a long time ago and that's what started this whole thing."

Crowley shook his head, "No, sorry love, you've been misinformed."

Regina put her hand up to him, not looking away from the girl on her couch, "Wait, was that all he said?"

"No. He said the daughter Cora gave away was also his. They had a brief love affair and after she found out she was pregnant with his child, she was afraid of the consequences and of it ruining her chances of becoming more than just a miller's daughter. She wanted fame and fortune and knew that having a child that young out of wedlock, with the ruler of the underworld no less, would destroy her chances."

"But why would that cause all of this, baby?" Ellen asked.

"Hades was pissed, so to get revenge, he helped Regina and my real dad get pregnant. He knew the family situation was rocky and wanted to make Cora even more unhappy." She stopped and looked at Regina, "I'm assuming this Cora woman is your mother." When Regina nodded she continued, "A few mistakes later and he had someone drop me off on Dean and Sam's doorstep. He knew they'd take me to Ellen, because he'd just killed Jo."

Ellen tensed up, "What?"

"He said he had to kill her, so that when the boys showed up with me, you'd take me. If you guys raised me, I'd grow up learning to hate anything with magic abilities. Most things that use magic are monsters. He knew what it would do to me, to us, when I found out what I could do." There was a pause before she continued, "He told me his plan was to use me to destroy Cora, but things changed and now there's something bigger happening."

"Like what?" Dean pipped up.

"I don't know. He said someone was here and that's when I woke up. I know who brought me to you, though."

"Who." This was a demand, not a request from the older of the two Winchesters.

"Naomi."

Dean, Sam, and Ellen all looked pissed. "That scummy little bitch just can't leave well enough alone."

Sam put his hands out to try and calm the room, "Look, there's nothing we can do about it now. Did he tell you anything about how to stop this?"

Des shook her head, "No, but since this is affecting multiple realms, I have a feeling Naomi's orders came from someone a bit bigger."


	14. Chapter 14

They all sat in the living room, discussing the news they'd just been given. Crowley departed shortly after, looking for answers from his higher ups, but something told them they weren't going to make any progress there. How Hades even knew what was going on was beyond them. This was well above their paygrade, but they wanted to find out why Des was being given this kind of information. It was like the White House giving a cab driver all of it's secrets. It's not that Des wasn't important to them, but what role did she play in Hades scheme?

"I don't like this," Ellen said, "Hades fun little reveal party was one thing, but now that Crowley's involved, we need to do something."

"Like what?" Regina asked, "We can't kill him. We have no magic."

"Mom!" Came a groggy sounding call from Des.

Ellen shot up and ran into the family room. A beat later she yelled, "Guys, you're gonna wanna see this!"

Everyone got up and filed into the other room, only to find Desdemona standing on her own, shirt up above where her stitches had been, to reveal a wound free abdomen. They all knew it was the result of magic, but whose? Regina and Emma were both dry, Henry had his quill under lock and key too far for any of them to get to, Zelena had lost her magic abilities in an unrelated incident weeks prior, and no one else had the ability to just heal her on command. Before anyone could say anything she told them, "No, no one healed me. I just woke up and it was gone."

"How?" Ellen asked.

"I don't know. I remember having another dream."

Dean looked at her curiously, "Hades?"

"No. I don't really remember what was in it exactly, but I know he wasn't there."

Ellen and the Winchester's knew that her injury didn't just disappear, something else was up, but none of them knew exactly. Instead of pressing her for more questions, they let her get up and stretch her legs. She walked from the family room, out to the foyer, then into the living room, where she sat and watched the news for a while with Snow and David, who had been catching up on the situation since before sunrise. Now it was all just a replay of the report from the day before, but the more they watched, the more the details were able to sink in and the more they could grasp on to what was actually happening outside.

Des finally spoke up and asked, "Has anyone thought about setting up a perimeter outside?"

David nodded, "Yeah, Emma, Dean, and Sam have been patrolling all night. Henry and I alternated as the door guard."

"I mean and actual perimeter. Like a fence."

"Well the shrubs make a pretty good barrier. Regina's gate broke a few weeks ago, so once that's fixed, I'm sure we'll be a bit safer."

"Okay," The teen said. "Sam, Dean, get in here!"

"What's wrong?" Dean asked as he and his brother rushed into the room, Ellen following right on their heels.

"Nothing's wrong. How do you two feel about smashing in some zed skulls?"

Ellen shook her head as she stepped to the front, "I don't think so, young lady. You almost died the last time you went out to 'smash in some zed skulls'."

"To be fair, I rip open my stomach, trying to climb up the side of a building, to unlock an apartment complex, so that we wouldn't be stranded. I almost died trying to save us, not fighting the undead army outside."

"Well that undead army was the cause of you having to save us, so my answer is still no."

"I can stay in front as a lookout."

"No way, Des."

Dean finally cut in, "Look, it's not a good idea to let her out to fight these things, but she can help keep us from being killed. You, David, and Regina are going to be out back, right?"

Regina called from the kitchen, "You think I'm going out there? Ha!"

"Even more of a reason to have her out there with us. Henry is watching the back door, if David's with you in the backyard, then we need someone with us out front."

"Robin and that Killian guy can help."

"No, we need someone to stay in here and protect the house, if we get overrun outside."

Emma walked in and said, "That's what I'm doing today. Since Regina isn't comfortable leaving the house, we're trading posts with Hook and Robin. Hook will be out back, Robin will be out front, he can be your backup."

Des rolled her eyes, "Whatever, look, just clear those thing out of there and see if you can find a truck or something that can haul a trailer behind it."

Now Sam was curious, "Why?"

"Because someone needs to go on a supply run to a lumber yard."

"What for?"

"To look for medical supplies and weapon upgrades," She said with a bored expression. The crooked look on his face caused her to roll her eyes again, "So that we can get supplies to start building barricades and fences around the areas that are cleared. If we can get this neighborhood blocked off, we can take turns looking out for these things and be a little more safe. Maybe even find survivors and get more people to safety. These things aren't going away on their own, we have to start taking them out and learning how to survive with them here."

Dean put his hands on his hips and asked, "You do know we're only about a two days walk from the nearest city, right? The next town over is only twenty minutes away by car."

"And what zombie is gonna drive here, Dean?" Des asked him with as much sarcasm in her voice as she could muster.

Sam snorted, while Ellen ignored the obvious error in thought. They sat and discussed what to do before Dean finally had enough and left to take out a bit of his frustration on some things that were already dead. Sam followed to make sure he was safe and Killian did the same. Robin was the first one to leave out the back door and check the back fence. Before parting ways, the Charming's kissed one another and Ellen made sure Des was settled in. It wasn't until the house had almost completely emptied that Regina walked into the living room with a bowl full of popcorn and a couple of soda's. She'd found out that Desdemona's favorite thing to do when she was cooped up inside was to binge watch tv and eat junk food.

The mayor handed a soda to the teenager and asked, "Would you like some company?"

She smiled, "Sure."

As Regina sat down, she asked, "So your real name is Desdemona. Where did Ellen come up with that?"

"I don't know. I came with the name. There was a note left with me and at the end it said my name was Desdemona."

"It's pretty," Regina told her grinning from ear to ear. She was happy to finally spend time getting to know her own daughter. "What do you want to watch?" She asked, picking up the remote and resting her arm on the back of the couch."

"Is there anything even on? I thought the stations were all supposed to just be on repeat until the end of the world."

"I guess it's good we have Netflix, then." Regina winked.

Des's face lit up and she asked, "Can we watch something with aliens?"

"The world is being taken over by zombies and you want to watch a movie about aliens?"

Ellen walked by the living room announcing, "She's a little twisted."

Desdemona shrugged, agreeing with a drawn out, "Yeah." She smacked her lips, then looked up at woman she was sitting next to, "I have no regrets."


	15. Chapter 15

"I have so many regrets!" Des whinned as she leaned over the toilet bowl.

Ellen held her hair and rubbed her back to help make her feel better. "Really? I thought you liked this part of eating too much junk," She quipped.

The teenager groaned, "Regrets… I have all the regrets-" Her sentence was cut off as she vomited.

Regina stood in the doorway, watching Des and feeling guilty that she didn't stop her after her ninth pixie stick. She didn't even know they had any left, but the girl somehow managed to find them when she went to the pantry to find a new bottle of apple juice. Even though she'd been feeling queasy, it wasn't until Dean walked in covered in guts that she shot up and ran for the bathroom, leaving the bowl of popcorn spilled on the floor. The site of the man even made Regina a little sick to her stomach, but she hadn't had the amount of sugar, salt, and caffeine that Des had managed to consume. Somehow, as if she'd received a notification on her phone, Ellen entered the house and made it to the bathroom before Regina, leaving the biological mother to stand awkwardly in the doorway.

"Man, I haven't seen you this sick since your twelfth birthday," Dean said, a little amused.

"What happened that made her so sick?" Asked the mayor.

"Oh well-"

"Alcohol poisoning," Ellen growled, cutting Dean off.

Regina looked angry and he put his hands out, saying, "Wait, wait, wait, I didn't actually give it to her. She snuck upstairs with a six pack and a bottle of rum after the barbeque was over."

Desdemona flushed the toilet and added, "I was trying to out drink Dean. He thought he was so hard after drinking half the bottle. I figured I could show him up if I finished the last half." She threw up again before explaining, "I brought the beers, because everyone was drinking beer between shots."

"You were twelve!" Dean said almost in surprise.

"And still handled the liquor like a pro."

Ellen patted her back as she began puking again, "Let it all out, babygirl." She turned around and told Regina, "Bring me a warm towel or something to put on her neck. She gets a headache when she throws up." As the women pushed herself off the frame of the door and walked to the kitchen, Ellen told Dean, "Sit with her." She followed Regina into the kitchen and when they were out of earshot said, "Don't judge us."

Regina glanced up at her, "For what?"

"You know what. I could feel you glaring at me. She's my daughter and I raised her the best I could."

"I wasn't glaring at you because of how you raised her. You shouldn't have let her around alcohol."

"She's a teenager. You know what teenagers do now days? They drink and they do it until they're passed out. Des knows her limit and I trust her to do the right thing when she goes to house parties."

Regina crossed her arms in front of her chest, "And how often are these house parties?"

"She goes to one a month, if she even goes at all." Ellen turned to walk as the woman she was facing off with began to drop her arms. She turned back getting face to face with the queen and quickly added, "Don't even think that you can just step in and start co parenting. I'm her mother, I raised her. You didn't even know she existed until just recently."

Regina balled her fists, ready to take her out with a ball of magic but she remembered that her magic was gone and her rage turned into tears. She held back the urge to cry, but her flaring, red nose was a pretty clear give away. The other woman nodded, satisfied with the response as she turned and walked back to the bathroom. The mayor stood, feeling defeated as she watched the person who'd raised her only biological child walk off. She grimaced, ready to chase after her with a knife to make herself feel better by putting an end to her life and feeling of victory. It was then that she stopped and began to feel afraid. She'd tried so hard to change and keep from returning to her old self, but she could feel the loss of control and it frightened her. How could she be a good mother if these petty shots messed with her impulse control?

As she headed upstairs to try and take a couple of minutes to breathe, she could hear Des ask, "Where's Regina."

She smiled and called, "I'm going upstairs. I'll be back in a minute."

When she looked down through the open doorway, she could see Ellen sitting next to her, hand on her back as she spoke. Dean was standing off to the side having a quiet conversation with Sam. Regina made it to her room and flopped onto the bed. She didn't know if she needed to scream, cry, or sleep, but one of the three was definitely going to happen within the next second. The mayor reached over to grab the closest pillow, but was stopped when she heard Emma asking the group downstairs for her. She immediately got up and made her presence known to her inquirer.

Emma approached her, but was looking in the direction of the bathroom. She finally turned and asked, "What's got spider woman so sick?"

Regina sighed, "I flunked my first test as trying to be a responsible parent."

"You're first test?" Emma asked, confused as to how it could have been her first test with her having been the one who raised Henry.

"Yes," The woman answered, "It was so much easier with Henry, because I'd taken care of him since he was a baby. I raised him portion control and to eat healthy. Desdemona was either never taught that or she just doesn't care."

The blonde looked over at the sick teen, then to Regina and said, "Well at least she'll keep you on your toes while she's here."

Des put her index finger in the air as if to ask permission to speak and said, "Just learn to walk on them. I'm what normal people call a problem child." She puked into the toilet bowl again, then added, "My mom didn't have any grey hair until Sam and Dean showed up with me."

Dean looked up at the two women, blinking several times, "Well, I guess there's always that to look forward to."

Sam pointed out, "You know, you didn't start going grey until Des started school and came home with all this new information about the real world and how no one else was being raised the same."

"Shut up," Dean answered.

Desdemona threw up again then said, "I'm so proud of myself."


End file.
